Dinos, Bisons set for rare playoff clash Saturday

Kickoff goes at 5 p.m., live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv, with the winner facing the victor between Regina and Saskatchewan for the Hardy Cup next Saturday, Nov. 10.

The home team has won all previous postseason meetings between the two squads – and in two of those cases (Calgary, 1985 and Manitoba, 2007) the winning team went on to capture the Vanier Cup. Since their last playoff meeting in 2007, the teams have been on very different trajectories. While the ’07 Bisons team captured the Vanier Cup, this is Manitoba’s first postseason appearance since that national championship year. Calgary, meanwhile, is playing its 10th home playoff game of the past five years Saturday night and is looking for an unprecedented fifth straight Hardy Cup title.

But while the history is nice to talk about, far more relevant is their most recent meeting. It was one of the wildest football games played in Canada West history, and perhaps the entire history of Canadian football. Record upon record fell as the Dinos built up a massive 63-14 lead at halftime and finally emerged victorious with a 78-54 victory. The offensive explosion on both sides – Calgary racked up 776 yards of total offence while Manitoba’s 54 points nearly doubled the 63 Calgary had given up in the previous seven games combined – came in a contest with nothing really on the line, as the standings and playoff match-ups had already been decided. Calgary quarterback Eric Dzwilewski’s 25-for-27, 312-yard passing performance in the first half earned him CIS offensive player of the week honours, while Manitoba tailback/returner Anthony Coombs won the award on special teams with a 98-yard punt return touchdown – one of three majors on the night for him.

Dating back to that 2007 semi-final contest, a 27-5 Manitoba win at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg, the Dinos have defeated the Bisons on eight consecutive occasions – and Manitoba hasn’t won at McMahon since a 28-27 squeaker on the last week of the 2005 regular season, a drought now longer than seven years. But this is the playoffs, and all that history means nothing when the ball is kicked off Saturday night. Here’s a look at the two teams:

No. 3 Calgary Dinos (7-1)
Last week: defeated Manitoba 78-54

The 2012 regular season will be forever etched in the record book for the Calgary Dinos. A second-straight first place finish marks the first time in school history that the Dinos have taken the regular season pennant in back-to-back years, while they broke or tied no fewer than 10 team single season records : points (380), touchdowns (42), first downs (272), passing yards (2997), completions (213), completion percentage (71.7), total offence (4720 yards), converts (42), field goals (22), and sacks (25).

They led the conference in virtually every category on both sides of the football, and they’ve been ranked in the top three in the nation from start to finish. The only blemish on an otherwise sparkling season was a 12-9 loss in Week 7 at Regina.

And that’s all well and good, but the only takeaway for now is that their incredible season guaranteed home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs – and they’ll need to neutralize the big play threat of the Bisons on Saturday if they hope to host the Hardy Cup game for the fourth time in five years. In their history, the Dinos have a losing record against just two opponents they’ve played more than once in the playoffs: Manitoba (1-2), and Laval (0-3).

Eric Dzwilewski had the most accurate season in school history (and the third-best in CIS lore) with a 70.6 per cent completion rate, tossing for 2,290 yards. Only Greg Vavra (2,823, 1983) and Bob Torrance (2,360, 1989) have more passing yards in a single season than the third-year pivot. And while the passing game grabbed most of the headlines, Calgary’s strength has traditionally been on the ground – and the duo of Steven Lumbala and Mercer Timmis provides the Dinos with a significant threat out of the backfield.

Last week’s second half notwithstanding, it was also a spectacular season for the Dinos defence. They went more than four full games without allowing an offensive touchdown, and despite the 54 given up by mostly backups in the second half against Manitoba last week still finished third in the nation in points allowed.

A Calgary victory would guarantee the Hardy Cup will be played at McMahon Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 10.

Manitoba Bisons (4-4)
Last week: lost to Calgary 79-54

The Bisons have been known for their big-play ability all season long, and in the second half last week they were able to convert. The tandem of Anthony Coombs and Nic Demski provide problems for opposing teams both offensively and on special teams, as attested to by Coombs’ three-touchdown performance last Saturday: one on a 98-yard punt return, one on a 41-yard run, and one on a seven-yard reception. Those three majors tied him with Calgary’s Steven Lumbala for the touchdown lead in the conference this season with nine.

Of the eight touchdowns Manitoba scored last week, six came from 25 yards out or longer with Kienan LaFrance’s 65-yard scamper and Demski’s 58-yard catch – both early in the fourth quarter – leading the way on offence after starting quarterback Cam Clark was reinserted into the game in the second half. Clark finished fourth in the conference passing race with 1,811 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season. His top target was Xavier Johnson, who averaged 15.6 yards per catch and scored a pair of majors – both coming against the Dinos.

The Bisons will also get a boost on defence with the additions of Teague Sherman and Thomas Hall to the line-up after neither played in last Saturday’s season-ender. Hall, the fifth-year linebacker who was scratched just minutes before kickoff, averaged five tackles per game on seven outings this season, while Sherman had the best average in the conference with 45 tackles in just six games – a 7.5-tackle-per-game average.

On the whole, Manitoba trailed only Calgary in points scored this season with 282, an average of 35.2 per game – but that was mitigated by a defence that also gave up more points than anyone else with 306 – 38.2 per game. If you take away last week’s 78-point anomaly, the average is still 32.6 points allowed per game – placing them fourth in the conference, exactly where they ended up in the standings.

Should Manitoba pull off the upset Saturday, they would play the winner of Saskatchewan and Regina on the road in next Saturday’s Hardy Cup.